simon_says

I have had some lessons in Reading with Don Chandler who was great. He doesn't just do reggae and really helped my listening discipline. reggaebasshub.com

I have got a Digimix24 mixer that I have been using for a few of our band gigs and some recording with the 32 channel usb card. It works pretty well. The reason I got it is that it has a master volume control knob on it so if I am not able to respond anyone in the band can kill the pa without going through layers of menus. Just interested if anyone else uses one.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts. I guess the issue is more aesthetic than sonic so Dad's black tape solution is probably the best. Once you have seen the offset it isn't possible to un-see it though! As always, I was looking for equipment related reasons as to why my bass playing from string to string is a little uneven in amplitude so clutching at the bridge straw seemed a good idea. What can I blame next??? Cheers

I bought an Ibanez SR1500 second hand about 10 years ago and, as it is my only bass, I have been more than happy with it. I believe it dates from around the early 90s and was quite good in its time. I have always wondered why the strings are not aligned down the center of the pole pieces on the pickups (see picture). The rectangular bridge with 90 degree corners (which looks as though it is correct from looking at original marketing flyers) sits in a slightly larger routed hole with rounded corners. Should I replace the bridge so that the strings are centered on the pickups, will it improve the sound and where could I get a new bridge from? Any thoughts appreciated. Many thanks

ne-mo.bandcamp.com

FB. Thank you very much for your offer. I visited Malvis yesterday and had a very interesting hour or so on his Baby Bass. It is a bit early to know if an EUB could prove to be a solution but I didn't seem to have a strong pain as I would normally get on my dB. As such and as you aren't so far away I would very much like to try your bass to further experiment. I will drop you a PM. All the best. Simon

Thanks Marc. I might go for a few days to discover Cardiff in a few months and maybe could arrange a meeting if you aren't to far away. I didn't realise that considering an eub is opening a Pandora's box of options! Cheers Simon

MT If my tryout on Malvis's eub proves successful the I will really appreciate the opportunity to try a number of basses and will definitely give you a shout. Many thanks for your help here. Cheers Simon

Many thanks for your kind offer Paul S but, as Malvis is not too far away, I will see if there is any benefit playing his for a short time first. If further experimentation is necessary I hope I can give you a call. Malvis - thank you also. I will send you pm. What a helpful bunch of guys and gals Basschatters are! Cheers Simon

Hi. I have been getting very bad back pain in a muscle below my right shoulder blade and, despite an intensive chiropractor/osteopath/physio course of treatment, it has not been sorted. The pain starts after about 30 minutes of playing my DB and then grows and spreads horizontally across my spine until I am unable to play any more. I have had a chat with drewk_ie, who has suffered back issues as well, and he has suggested trying an EUB. I am willing to try everything and this seem like a good idea. As I have never played one, is anyone able to let me come and play one for an hour or so or let me borrow one to check out whether there is any benefit in playing one over playing standard upright. I am located just north of Reading. Many thanks Simon

[quote name='thebrig' timestamp='1484304905' post='3214471'] I use a Zoom H1 to record our rehearsals all the time, I've never thought about popping some IEM's into the headphones out. I will get myself a decent set of IEM's and try that out next week, thanks for the tip. As for not worrying about their own ears? I've mentioned it so many times, and no pun intended, it falls on "DEAF EARS" I'm afraid, so I've decided that I will take care of my own, and if they don't care about theirs, then that is their problem from now on. [/quote] What a great idea! After struggling in rehearsals and gigs to hear myself I was getting pretty cheesed off. Ear plugs didn't help pick out my bass line but did make for a easier time for my ears. I have treated myself to an LD 1000 wireless IEM system and at the rehearsal last night plugged it into the line out of my trusty old Tascam DR-07 that we use for recording. Great result and even the guitards tried it and were impressed so it could lead to less monitoring on stage and less volume. Great result all round!

More ammunition for the pedants out there. The Uxbridge Dictionary defines Acoustic as "a Scottish cattle prod" Where does that get us then?

Thanks very much guys for your input. From an engineering perspective I would have expected there to be a high pass filter on the radio so apart from losing the fundamental frequency of the bass note (which is only a part of the whole signal) there should no adverse effects on the transmission. The effect I was hearing was definitely a faulty hiss. I was hoping that someone on here would have been able to put me out of my misery but I guess I will have to find an Olde Worlde music shop that stocks them and actually try it before I buy. Thanks again Simon

I recently purchased a LD MEI100 G2 in ear monitoring system for use with my bass guitar. The bass sound was very poor with the lower bass notes being particularly distorted, a type of modulated hiss, and I tried various channels and other configurations to get a good sound without success. The bass sounds good when connected to the headphone output on the transmitter. The supplier has offered a full refund but won't be providing a replacement as they think it is unsuitable for bass guitar. I am sure I have read posts of players who have used it but I would be grateful if anyone can confirm successful use of this LD system with a bass guitar as it is most inconvenient not now having monitoring. Thank you for your help.

[quote name='tauzero' timestamp='1447971353' post='2912031'] Back in the late 70s, I was going to see Black Sabbath. A friend told me that the support band were absolutely fantastic, with a demon lead guitarist. So I went, Dickens-like, with great expectations, only to be sorely disappointed by Tanzder Youth (Sabbath were good though). It turned out there had been different support bands, and the one I'd missed through going on the wrong night were called Van Halen. [/quote] I think I saw that tour. Lewisham Odeon around 1979. Van Halen came on as support and were great - full of energy. Then Sabbath appeared and ruined the evening. I wanted to ask for my money back but I had been given a complimentary ticket so I just had to leave early and harrumph all the way back to Canterbury on the train. Glad I saw Van Halen but it still rates as one of the most dissapointing gigs I have been to.

[quote name='tom1946' timestamp='1421183529' post='2658263'] Hmmmm.... Having owned a music shop until I retired in 2009 I must agree with Moosh &WayneP, if the stock is dusty, out of tune and neglected then you don't deserve to succeed imo. [/quote] I was in a really interesting guitar & music shop (pawn) shop in Denver a few months ago. I got talking to the owner and mentioned a really nice looking German double bass that he had in the shop. He said go ahead and have a play on it which I did. When I returned he asked me how it went. I said it had a really nice tone but it was a shame that it was out of tune. He replied that he deliberately kept all his instruments out of tune as there was a school up the road and he was tired of the kids coming in at lunch time, taking the guitars down and showing off their rock solos with no intention of buying. The kids couldn't be bothered to tune them so they didn't come in any more. If any customer was really interested he would tune any instrument up for them. Made me laugh!

A few weekends ago at an afternoon pub charity gig in Theale with Not Souled Out

Hi Ci Ci's mum My daughter started on an 1/8 then moved to 1/4, both of which we rented from the local music service. We then bought a 1/2 size when she was about 14 which we had professionally set up and she got her Grade 6 on it. For a petite 15 year old I would think that a half size might be more manageable (though the fractions don't seem to obey any sort of relationship to the actual size). I agree that going to a good music shop to try all the options would be a very good start. My daughter has now moved on to other things, boys mostly, so it sits in the corner. If you decided to buy rather than rent then let me know as it could do with going to a good home. Simon

Sorry it didn't work out. It was worth exploring the idea.

hector - I will send you a PM

Richard - that sounds like it would work if Hector can get the stool close to Sonning Common in the next week. Hector - Maybe we could meet in South Oxfordshire somewhere if you can't get to Sonning Common

Hector - if you can come anywhere near Sonning Common in the next week or so and if Richard is coming anywhere near Salcombe in the two weeks after Sat 2nd Aug then I can carry it from Sonning Common to Salcombe on the Friday night. Simon

I have had one of Ben's end pins for about 4 months. While I don't use it for rehearsals, as it is just something else to carry, I always use it for our orchestral concerts where the extra volume and tone I get really helps (I am the only bass at the moment). So, thumbs up for a modest investment to give a big improvement in sound. I like the previous poster's idea of a foot or perhaps a big claw at the bottom of the pin! Simon

Hopefully this baring of one's chest is a cathartic process. On Friday we finished a great un-plugged night that had lashings of talented acts. I was introduced as doing a double bass solo (which it wasn't) but not just once but twice bowed the same note a semi tone out and it sounded so cringingly bad I am still shuddering now. Maybe the fact that I played it twice and with confidence meant that the audience thought it was meant to be avant garde. Luckily it worked fine after that to the end of the song but one of our other enthusiastic band members has put the video on our Facebook page for all to see. At least my face isn't visible! I am told time is a great healer.